On Time and Change
by Duchess Eileen
Summary: Ever noticed that sometimes time passes, yet nothing truely changes? Or perhaps, like as it is for Tenten and Ino, too much changes?


Disclaimer :

Roses are Red,

Violets are Blue,

I don't Naruto,

Damn.

**YO, YOU SHOULD READ THIS** _(because that'd be coolio, dog)_

I was inspired by listening to the Charlie Brown theme song to write something where the ninjas changing as time passed. Why did the Charlie Brown tune inspire me of this? I'm not sure. Maybe it's because the Peanuts kids have been 8 years old for longer then Edward's been 17. Any which way, here it is! It's kinda bitter sweet. But I don't think it's that sad. Only a little tiny bit at the end.

* * *

"Isn't right." Hinata muttered softly, her cheeks glowing already.

"Oh come on!" Ino exasperated, throwing her hands up. "The boys aren't right!" Fourteen voices agreed, and Hinata sighed.

"'Sides," Sakura put in, her pace matched with Ino's, "the boys all have cooties." A chorus of 'ews' erupted from the little ninjas, a couple of them dramatically shivering. A few older girls rolled their eyes, grinning.

"They don't have cooties. They're just stupid." Piped up a girl with two chocolate pigtails adorning her head who was near the back of the pack. The younger girls snorted their noses as this logic, causing the older girls to laugh.

"I'll agree that they're stupid," Ino said, flourishing one hand dramatically, and resting the other on her hip. "But if they didn't have cooties, then how come girls who get near 'em go crazy?" Again, a chorus came up from the younger girls in the group, of 'yea's and 'totally crazy's. None of the nine year olds had an answer to that; it was an unexplainable phenomenon.

Of course, this initiated a few squeals, as girls dove into stories. Their voices over lapped, until all but one silenced. "My sister, she, like, lives with him!" The girl was saying, sounding horrified, "And the other day, I saw them _kissing_." Again, another chorus of 'ew's. A few other girls began their stories, whispering excitedly to the girls near them.

But now the girls were getting near their destination. The voices lowered, until all the girls became silent.

"Stupid boys..." One girl hissed, out of the blue. Fifteen other girls whirled around to her, and shushed loudly.

"Be quiet!" Ino snapped, before twirling back around and continuing to lead the group.

They were an odd group- sixteen girls in all, five nine year olds, and eleven eight year olds, all wrapped up tightly in scarves, mittens, jackets, and even, for two girls, blankets. They trudged their way through the four inches of show that had fell the night before, some with more difficulty then others, with the full moon lighting their path. Ino lead the pack, with Sakura close on her heels. Hinata and some of the less excited girls stayed near the back, along with the nine year olds.

As they walked, over at Choji's house the boys were having a New Years Party sleepover. Naturally, no girls were invited. ("How could have a party without me?" Ino had said in disbelief, once she'd heard about it) After some serious rallying, Ino managed to gather the majority of the girls from their class, and a few from the class above.

The group actually walked past Choji's house once, and had to turn back after they reached the next block. Due to many complaints, Ino gave up the lead to Sakura, who strutted ahead happily, her long hair swaying behind her.

"Better not get us lost, Forehead..." The blonde girl muttered under her breathe, glaring daggers at her friend's back.

The second time, the group spotted the house. It was very similar to the rest of the houses on the street, except for a banner, pinned to the outside wall, with the Akimichi family symbol. Several of the girls started giggling as they approached, provoking even nosier shushing from other girls.

"Remember, we've gotta be stealthy!" Ino hissed, and several of the girls nodded excitedly.

"We're G-ANBU!" One overly excited eight year old put in happily, cause giggles to erupt.

"I like that!"

"Yea, we should get some masks!"

"Oh my god, that would be so cool!"

"Can I be a kitty?"

The flare-up of sound was enough to call attention to themselves.

"What was that?" A voice, male, said, from inside the house. Instantly all the girls, minus one nine year old who continued to giggling softly, went silent. There was a pregnant silence, before a loud thumping noise.

"You're it!" A different boy yelled, and the pitter patter of foot steps as boys inside the house scattered every which way was heard.

"Oh my..." Hinata breathed a sigh of relief, speaking for almost all the girls. With the pardon of a few. The pigtailed girl broke out in laughter, and leaned into the girl beside her.

"Oh my god, I thought they were going to catch us!" She giggled, clutching her side.

"Tenten, it's not funny!" Ino hissed darkly, glaring up at the older girl. "We're on a serious mission here!" It took a moment, but Tenten sobered up.

"Sorry." With apologizes all around, the girls continued their mission. They split into three groups : Reconnaissance, Foraging, and Scouts.

"Recon, you'll follow the boys and listen to what they're saying. Also find out what they're doing, and where they are, and um, what their mission here is." Ino instructed to the girls, who'd gathered around her in a group huddle. "Foraging, you'll look around and see if there's any stuff left outside that's blackmail worthy. I once found a doll outside Stupid-maru's house." Giggles went around at that comment.

"Stupid-maru?" One eight year old asked, blinking.

"Shikamaru." Ino answered, eyes narrowed. The eight year old looked like she was about to inquire more, but Ino didn't give her the chance. "Finally, Scouts, we'll look for a way in. If we can get into their house, then we can really have fun." A few cheers broke out amount the girls, and Ino grinned. "Now, let's show them what we think of them excluding us from a party!"

Ino was leading the Scout group; she was joined by Hinata, Sakura, two eight year old girls, the pigtailed girl, and one nine year old.

They made their way quickly around to the back of the house in truth ninja style- on tippy toes. Inside the boys could be heard, whacking each other with plush swords.

"They don't expect a thing!" Sakura giggled happily, cautiously peering through a window as they passed.

"Well, duh, they're boys." Ino replied.

There was a small window on the bottom of the back wall, leading to what the girls assumed was the basement. Assumed, due to the fact that the light was snapped off, leaving the room pitch dark. Hinata's eyes nearly popped out of her head when Ino announced that they'd enter the house through there.

"But... but..." The young ninja whimpered, her white eyes locked on the darkness that loomed behind the small window. "It's dark." Sakura let out a loud, annoyed sigh, and leaned down beside the window.

"It's just darkness. It ain't going to hurt." Hinata didn't look reassured, so Sakura, with an eye roll, continued, "How 'bout I turn the lights on, then you follow?" There was no response from the white-eyed girl, other then downcast eyes, so Sakura assumed that was a 'yes'.

After a few moments, in which Sakura skillfully unlocked the window, and pried it open, then hopped into the darkness, the lights snapped on. The basement was small, with a large assortment of odd items all over the walls and floor. Tables, cabinets, and dressers that were almost certainly foreign, and an extensive collection of trinkets, ranging from masks to bottles of sake, which decorated said tables, cabinets, and dressers.

But that was pretty typical of a ninja family. Souvenirs were one of the best ways to remember where one had been.

"See anything black-mail-worthy?" Ino asked, picking up a bottle of sake and trying to read the label, which had managed to gather a stunning amount of dust for something standing up right.

"Not yet." Was the reply. But that reply wasn't good enough for Ino.

"All the stuff here's his father's..." She hissed under her breathe, as she searched, "This won't do!"

"What do you think we should do?" Sakura asked, with an eye brow raised. "Charge into the rest of the house, where the guys are?"

There was a pause. The other girls, who had been ruffling through the stuff, stopped.

"Oh no, Ino, no no no no!" Hinata gasped, turning a horror-struck face to Ino.

"If we go quietly, we could probably find Choji's room! All the boys will have left their stuff in there..." A plan started to formulate, and Ino laughed happily. "And I have a great idea for what we can do with their stuff!" Unfortunely for the curiosities of the other girls, Ino didn't pause to explain. Instead, the blonde girl dashed to the door leading to the rest of the house, and wrenched it open.

The sounds of the boys became magnified, and the rest of the girls flinched.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Tenten hissed, dashing over to Ino, and gazing carefully through the door. They were at the end of a long hallway with three doors on the right side of it; at the other end, the hallway made a left turn, to, judging by the noise, the place the boys were.

"'Coure I'm sure!" The little blonde girl retorted, before quickly entering the hallway. Not wasting a moment, she stuck her head into the first room she came to.

"Parent's." She concluded, before moving on. The rest of the girls followed her, somewhat unwillingly, with Hinata picking up the tail. At the next, Ino shook her head, "Bathroom."

Peeking into to the last, Ino sucked in her breathe. "Bingo."

A poster of a food hung over the dresser; the floor was covered with wrappers; the smell of popcorn and chicken hung in the air; multiple grease and ketchup stains covered the walls and bed sheets. There wasn't a doubt in any of the girl's mind about who's room it was.

"There!" Ino shouted, pointing wildly at the opposite side of the room, where the bags containing the boys pajamas were sitting idly. The rest of the girls hissed 'shush' at Ino, but she was simply too distracted.

After racing across the rooms, and nearly slipping on an empty can of coke on the way, the blonde girl crouched down beside the bag she knew belonged to Shikamaru.

"Hey!" The other six girls went rigid, and let out tiny yelps when they turned and saw three boys, the one the room belonged to, one with a high pony tail, and one with upside triangles on his face. Ino ignored them, and began to dig into the bag, a dark smile on her face.

"Ino, what the hell are you doing?" Snarled the pony tailed boy, in a high pitched tone. "You loathsome pig!" Beside him, the one with triangles on his face was leaning over, laughing. Choji seemed mildly entertained, as he offered some chips from the bag he'd been eating out of to Hinata and the nine year old.

"Oh. My. God." Ino had hit the jackpot.

"Get out of my stuff!" Shikamaru spat, moving with more energy then usual. Before he reached her, Ino pulled out a pair of underwear from the bag.

"Tighty whities!" Ino shrieked with laughter, leaping to her feet as Shikamaru reached her, holding the underwear above her head. Shikamaru, being several inches shorter, cursed sharply, and attempted to jump and reach the underwear.

"Give them back!" The boy squealed, and Ino laughed harder.

"Oh my god, I can't believe-"

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"-you still wear these!" Ino squealed, extending her arm above her and waving the underwear for everyone to see.

"Why are you so troublesome?" Shikamaru growled, as he reached up and, being a good inch taller then Ino, easily snatched the underwear from his teammate.

The entire group laughed at that; with the exception of Shikamaru, of course.

"Seriously, Shikamaru, tighty whities?" Kiba teased, grinning a toothy grin at the lazy boy.

"I haven't worn those since I was like, eight." Naruto put in from his position on the recliner.

With three missions apiece completed and no one killed, the nine new ninjas were feeling pretty good about themselves. And what better way to celebrate, Kiba had suggested, then a New Years party. Having suggested it, Kiba went so far as to offer his own house as the site of the party.

And other then the smell of dog and an extremity of dog fur everywhere, it was turning out to be a pretty good get-together. Most of the guys were in the middle off a game of poker; over thirty dollars rested in the center of the Inuzuka kitchen table. Near to the small fireplace, Sakura was braiding Hinata's hair, while Tenten was telling the story of her recent trip to the Sand Village. She'd been dragged to the party by Sakura, who wanted to hear all about the trip.

"We trailed the guy for a day, but for some reason, he still hadn't headed back to his base." Tenten was saying, "We thought we had the wrong guy. But then, we saw him do some hand motions-"

"Skip to the part when you got the hickey!" Sakura cut in, and Tenten froze. This drew the attention of most of the boys at the table, who leaned backwards in their chairs for a view of the older ninja.

"What hickey?" Tenten laughed nervously, attempting to pull up the collar on her Chinese style shirt.

"Oh my god, you're right!" Kiba nearly shouted, leaning back even more as he tried to get a better view.

"It's not a hickey!" Tenten hissed defensively, receiving only laughs in reply.

"Come on, Tenten," Naruto said, as he placed a card onto the table, "didja run into to an extra sexy ninja on the way to the sand village?" Kiba, overcome by laughter at this comment, leaned back a little too much, and ended up falling over. This just stimulated another wave of laughter from the teenagers.

"Ow." The dog boy said simply. Akamaru, leaping down from the table where he'd been keeping a watchful eye on the cash, padded over to him and licked his nose.

"It's confidential- mission stuff." Tenten said defiantly, her cheeks bright red.

"Was it Neji?" Ino hit the soft spot, as Tenten's eyes grew three sizes that day.

"No!" But her response was too fast, too strong for it to be believable.

"I can't believe it! Neji gave you a hickey?" Sakura gasped, hand going to her mouth. A smile began to form, and she turned to Ino. "Told you Neji liked her!" This just further horrified Tenten.

"No no, Neji-"

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"-gives me too many hickies!" Tenten laughed loudly, again trying to straighten the collar on her white Chinese shirt. Beside her, Neji's mouth was angled ever so slightly upward.

"I hear you." Sakura laughed, pulling at her own turtle neck. "You know, Sasuke's is a hell of a lot more affectionate then I could have ever guessed."

The group was gathered around a small fire. This year, there was no snow, so Naruto had brought up the idea of having the traditional party outside. Unfortunely, Lee and Shino were both out on missions at the time, but ten other ninjas were gathered around the fire.

"I swear, I can't walk through town anymore without people staring." Tenten complained, grinning as she did so.

"Maybe it's because you carry a huge fucking scroll on your back?" Kiba suggested, with a loud barking laugh.

"There's nothing wrong with carrying a scroll around!" Tenten retorted quickly, glowering at the Inuzuka.

"He's got a point," Ino agreed, as she filed her nails, "I mean, come on. Your scroll is freaking bigger then Akamaru." At the mention of his name, the dog in question raised his head, and sniffed the air. Detecting no food in the vicinity, Akamaru wasted no time settling swiftly back to sleep.

"Is not..." Tenten huffed softly, crossing her arms defiantly and leaning into Neji, who merely wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulder. With a small sigh, she closed her eyes, content.

A moment passed, in which the couple stayed like that.

"Oh my god, why can't I have a guy like that?" Ino whined sadly, disrupting the peace. Neji narrowed his eyes, annoyed. But Tenten only laughed.

"You already do." She said, but Ino took no notice of the older girls' wise words.

"Seriously, I need a caring guy I can go to! Everyone else has a boyfriend! Even Hinata!" Hinata, who'd been snuggling with said boyfriend, blinked a few times in surprise.

"_Even Hinata?_" Naruto growled lightly, raising an eyebrow at Ino. The blonde girl paused, eyes wide.

"Erm, I mean, um... and what a wonderful boyfriend he is?" She attempted, smiling widely at the boy. Being one of the only two Jounin ninjas there, the other being Neji, Naruto was a bad ninja to mess with. Although, he hadn't a reputation for getting upset.

"You've got that right!" Naruto laughed, and Hinata grinned and shook her head. Ino, off the hook, sighed.

"Ino." Questioningly, the blonde ninja turned towards Tenten, who continued promptly, "Shikamaru." A faint blush appeared on the blonde's face, before she turned her head away from the older ninja.

"Not in a million years!" Ino spat over her shoulder, arms crossed. "No, there's no way that I could ever-"

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"-love you." Slowly, painfully, Ino kneeled next to the slab. "I know you don't like flowers..." But, it was all she could do. Eyes moist, the girl arranged the flowers the best she could.

A few yards away, another girl stood, her eyes on a different grave. She'd agreed to accompany Ino, even against her better judgement. Unlike her friend, she hated the graveyard. Some say that funerals and graveyards help offer solace. But to Tenten, they just reminded her of everything she lost.

It was nearly midnight; a bright full moon was above them, bathing the world in a ghostly glow. This year, there was no New Years party. The tradition had ended unceremoniously after Kiba went into a coma a few years back. Although he'd come out of it earlier that year, no one had felt the urge to start up the tradition. Not with two of their members permanently gone.

"I guess I'm ready to go." Ino sighed softly, pushing herself to her feet. "You need to get back to your kids, right?" Tenten nodded silently, and the blonde smiled half-heartedly. Normally, Ino mouth never stopped running. Well, at least, that used to be the norm. But after Shikamaru died, Ino changed.

With a sigh, Ino brushed a vagrant tear off her cheek. A small smile garnished her face, as she turned and headed torwards the exit. Tenten, sparing one last glance at Lee's tombstone, pivoted and followed her.

* * *

So there you have it!

Wanna more from me? **REVIEW**!

I tend to write another story after twenty or so reviews that I get.=3

So, _R-E-V-I-E-W_, find out what it means to me~!


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